Water skiing is becoming a popular past time and recreational activity. It requires not only a boat operator driving a boat towing a water skier via a rope and tow bar handle secured thereto, but also an observer positioned in the boat as a passenger, who constantly monitors the water skier performance. The observer notes to the water skier whether the water skier indicates a desire for changed water skier conditions, such as speeding up, slowing down, or turning around, or has fallen and requires the boat to return and pull the water skier back up out of the water either into a skiing position, or draw the skier into the safety of the boat.
When an observer is not available, it is necessary to include a device to apprise immediately a boat operator if a skier has fallen or voluntarily released hold of the ski rope. This is necessary to ensure that the boat operator does not continue driving the boat a long distance from the location where the water skier has fallen, and thus, placing the water skier into a dangerous position where other boats could run over him or her. Some systems use a wire extending from a water skier tow bar handle to an alarm positioned within the boat indicating when a skier has fallen. This could be accomplished, such as when the tow bar handle hits the water and blocks a signal generated from a transmitter. Other systems, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,611, use a wireless transmitter for generating a signal that generates an alarm after the skier lets go of the tow bar handle. In these systems, a pre-selected frequency is no longer transmitted and an alarm is activated by closure of a switch.
Other systems use complicated tow bar handles, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,683, teaching a complicated handle assembly with on/off switches and manually actuated trigger switches. U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,221 discloses a downed water skier warning system using electronic water sensors for sensing when the rope-handle of the skier tow-rope lands in the water. These water and pressure sensors are in remote communication with audible and visual tow boat operator alarms and visual “skier down” warning indicators.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,402 overcomes these prior art problems such that the standard cylindrically configured and longitudinally extending tow bar handle is used with a skier alert system to generate not only an indication of a “skier down” signal, but also generate other signals that indicate a desired water skier condition, such as speeding up, slowing down, a directional turning around, or stop. This system provides for the boat operator to know when a skier down condition has occurred and when any change occurs in desired water skier conditions.
Commonly assigned Continuation-in-Part patent application Ser. No. 10/378,540, filed Mar. 3, 2003, discloses a water skier tow bar and float assembly in which the tow bar handle includes control actuators positioned along the grip and a float assembly connected to the tow bar handle. The float assembly could be integral with the tow bar handle. The wireless radio transmitter is mounted within the float assembly and operatively connected to the control actuators for generating wireless signals of desired water skier conditions based on user actuation of the control actuators.